"Every Beat of My Heart" is a

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

song by Johnny Otis. It was first recorded in 1952 by his group, The Royals (later to be known as

The Midnighters The Midnighters were an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan. They were an influential group in the 1950s and early 1960s, with many R&B hit records. They were also notable for launching the career of lead singer Hank Ballard and the wo ...

The Pips recording

In 1961,

Gladys Knight & the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. Starting out as simply ...

recorded the song for their debut single on the

Vee-Jay Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...

label. Credited to The Pips, it was the first of eleven releases by the group to make it to #1 on the US '' Billboard'' R&B chart. It was also the group's first top ten on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Every Beat of My Heart" was first recorded for the Huntom label, who later sold the master to

Vee-Jay Records Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...

. At the time of the song's release, The Pips were on the Fury label where they re-recorded the song without piano. In an unusual occurrence, the Fury recording of the song also made the top twenty on the R&B chart and also made the Hot 100.

Cover version

James Brown recorded an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

version of "Every Beat of My Heart" with his band which was released as the B-side of his 1963 single "

Like a Baby "Like a Baby" is a song written by Jesse Stone. It was recorded by Vikki Nelson for a Vik Records single in 1957. Priscilla Bowman recorded it for Abner Records in 1959. It was also recorded by Elvis Presley for his 1960 album '' Elvis Is Back!' ...

" and charted #99 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.White, Cliff (1991). "Discography". In ''Star Time'' (pp. 54–59) D booklet New York: PolyGram Records.

References

1963 singles Gladys Knight & the Pips songs James Brown songs 1961 debut singles Songs written by Johnny Otis King Records (United States) singles 1954 songs {{1960s-pop-song-stub